Beet picker attachment



Jufiy 21, E953 J. BRATUN BEET PICKER ATTACHMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. March 21, 1950 Fig.

Joseph Bram/7 INVENTOR.

W53 J. BR'ATUN BEET FICKER ATTACHMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1950 Jaseph Bran/m INVENTOR.

Jufiy 221 @353 .2. BRATUN 29646935? BEET PICKER ATTACHMENT Filed March 221, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 o a a 50 Jaswfi Brawn INVENTOR.

purposes intended.

Patented July 21, 1953 BEET PICKER ATTACHMENT f Joseph Bratun, Pueblo, 0010. Application March 21, 1950, Serial No. $0,999 I 1 Thisinventionrelates to'new and useful improvements in beet pickers, and more particularly pertains to means for selectively placing beets in a receiving bin or hopper free from dirt and other debris. I

The primary object of this invention is to selectively place beets in a storage hopper without the same being accompanied by leaves, dirt and other debris that is commonly associated with the same upon, being freshly removed from the soil and the tops removed therefrom.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an attachment capable of realizing the foregoing object with a minimum of injury to the beets. I

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment of this character which is automatically adjustable tohandle beets of various uniform sizes, as well as lots of the same wherein there is wide variation in the individual sizes of the beets. J I V I Still another important object of this invention is to provide suitable drive means connect- .ing the axle of the'wheel support to the operative part of the present invention'which will permit the same the automatic adjustment of the preceding paragraph,'yet"which will be absolutely positive infunction.

Still another importantobject of the present invention is to provide a deviceofthis character which will be inexpensive inconstruction, 'reliable in operation, and highly efficient for the T The meritorious feature of the present inven- I tion resides in the means provided for automatic vertical adjustment of the drum with respect to Figure 1 is'a top plan view of the present invention; I

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the present invention, showing the same in operation;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the present invention Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional detail view of the present invention being taken substantially upon the 4 3 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective detail view of the inverted V-shaped trough and the means provided r removing beets from the drum; and

ure 6 is a perspective view 'of the U-shaped member that swivelly supports the drum.

Reference is now made more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similarparts throughout the various views, and in which: The numeral I 0 designates generally a beet-receiving bin or hopper whichis supported upon an axle l2 which carries at its opposite ends ground-contacting wheels M, the Wheel support or cart formed from the bin Ill and the axle and wheels I2 and His provided with a draught tongue [6 having a clevis 18 at its forward end for attachment to a suitable towing vehicle, not shown.

-A. pair of spaced longitudinally extending plates '28 are secured to the forward and rear ends of the hopper l9 bybolts 22 and 2 respectively, the plates 2!! being spaced inwardly from the-si'de'edges of the hopper Ill. Journalled between opposite ends of the. plates 2!] are conveyor rollers 26 and 28 about which is entrained a-conveyor belttllgthe conveyor roller 28 being shaped trough, whereby the necessity of any one embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:- 1

provided with 'a'sprocket 32 whereby the roller 28, the belt tllland the roller 26 may be actuated. It will be readily appreciated that the sprocket 32 may be suitably driven by a flexible drive connected to a ground wheel if desired, however, since-the present. invention does not reside in the means by which'the conveyor SE! is driven, it has not been deemed necessary to illustrate such driving means.

Permanently connected to an upstanding strap 34 carried at the forward end of the hopper I0 is a substantially U-shaped member best shown in Figure 6. The U-shaped member comprises a pair of legs pivotally connected to a tubular web member 38 by means of a pivot bolt 40 connecting the legs 36 and extending through the tubular web member 38. The web member 38 is in turn provided with a transverse extension 42 extending from intermediate the ends thereof, which extension 42 is provided with a stop collar '44 and is externally threaded adjacent its "outer lane of the section line end, whereby the U-shaped member is pivotally connectedto the strap 34 by means of nut 46. It will thus be seen, by means of the pivot bolt 4! and the pivotal connection of the extension 42 with the strap 34 that the U-shaped member is swivelly connected to the forward end of the: hopper l0.

As best shown in Figure 2, the U-shaped mem ber extends rearwardly from the strap 3d, and that the legs 35 are bent upwardly intermediate their ends as at it, and have a drum journalled between the outer ends thereof. The drum 50 is disposed above the conveyor belt 38 and is itself provided with a plurality of rows of pointed projections or teeth 52. It should be noted that the teeth 52 are arranged in axially spaced rows, and that the teeth themselves-extend radially from the drum 56 in circumferentially spaced relation.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 5, an inverted v-shaped trough 55 is provided which straddles the legs being secured thereto in any suitable manner as 'by welding or the like and by braces 58. A plurality of stripper rods 58 which are substantially parallel extend from the edge of the trough 54 immediately adjacent the-drum 553 and extend between the spaced rows of teeth 52, the arrangement being such that the rods 5% terminate in close proximity to the circumference of the drum 52 and are substantially tangential th reto, so that during clockwise rotation of the drum as shown in Figure 2, the rods or fingers 58 will remove objects that are empaled upon the teeth 52 therefrom and constitute a guide th -Q- for into the trough 54 so as to slide to either side of the conveyor belt 36 and into the hopper It. It will. be noted that th trough 5 is greater in transverse extent than the conveyor belt 3% so as to insure the passage of objects directly from the trough 5 into the hopper it.

As thus far described, it will be readily apparout that during travel to the left of the upper ni ht of the conveyor belt 3% as shown in Figure 2, and clockwise rotation of the drum 5%, that beets which are received from the elevator conveyor 59 together with any refuse will pass under the drum and that the teeth 52 will selec tively empale the beets and carry the same into engagement with the rods 58 for their eventual deposit within the hopper 10. Due to the U- shaped member being swivelly connected to the hopper iii it will be readily appreciated that the drum 5%] may rise straight upward to conform to the size of the beets passing thereunder, and that the drum is also capable of sidewise tilting to compensate for variations in the size of beets passing thereunder in any particular instance. While a sidewise tilting movement of the drum 50 is of great value, it has been found in practice that better performance may be obtained from the equipment if the tilting movement islimited, accordingly, vertical standards 52 extend upwardly from the plates 20 on opposite sides of the U-shaped member to limit this movement.

Means are provided to positively rotate the drum 5& during advance of the wheel support irrespective of the swiveling movement ofthe U- shaped member and the drum carried thereby. These means include an upstanding support bracket 84 secured to one side of the hopper H] and which carries at its upper end a transverse shaft 66. The transverse shaft 66 is operatively connected to the axle 68 of the drum 50' by means of universal couplings 10 between which an extensible coupling 12 is interposed. The extensible coupling 12 may conveniently take the form of a non-circular shaft M slidably retained in a complementary non-circular socket member 5%. It will be evident from the foregoing that upon rotation of the shaft 66 that the axle 68 will be positively driven thereby irrespective of the position of the drum 50.

The axle 12 projects laterally beyond one of the wheels [4 and is provided. with atubular housing 18 secured thereon by a nut 8D, the member 18 being fixedly secured to the wheel i l to rotate therewith and is provided with a driving sprocket 82, which driving sprocket 82 in conjunction with a driven sprocket 84 on the outer end of the shaft 66 serves to rotate the shaft 68 upon rotation of the ground wheels M. In order to insure proper tension in the drive chain 86 entrained over the pulleys 82 and 84, an arm is pivoted at 90 to the support bracket 54, which arm 38 carries at its outer end a chain tensioning sprocket 92, a spring )4 being provided to urge the sprocket 92 into engagement with the drive chain 86.

In the preferred construction means is provided to prevent reverse rotation of the drum 5Q, which means takes form in the present embodiment of a uni-directional clutch connected between the sprocket S4 and the shaft 66, so that upon rearward movement of the hopper IS the drum will not also rotate in reverse, it being apparent upon forward advance of the hopper If! that the drum 5% will rotate in the desired direction for the proper operation of the drum 50 and the fingers 58.

It should be pointed out that in themselves the hopper or bin Hi, the axle E2, the wheels Hi, and the conveyors 3i] and 60 do not constitute the subject matter of this invention, since they may conveniently take the form of apparatus manufactured for the International Harvester Co. as illustrated in the drawings.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be imnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not de sired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

l-laving described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. For use witha beet picker of the type having a receiving hopper provided with a wheeled support and an endless conveyor above the hopper, an attachment for selectively removing beets from the conveyor and depositing the same in the hopper comprising a substantially U-shaped member having a pair of legs connected by a web, means for swivelly connecting the web to the hopper, a drum journaled between the outer ends of the legs having a plurality of rows of radially extending and circumferentially spaced pointed projections, each of said rows of projections being axially spaced, an inverted V-shaped trough carried by said legs and adapted to straddle the conveyor belt for depositin beets into the hopper, a plurality of upwardly extending rods carried by the trough each of which extends into closely spaced relation with the periphery of the drum and into the spaces between the rows of projections.

2. The combination of claim lincluding means 7 member having legs pivotally joined by a web for and means carried by the trough responsive to rotation of the drum to remove empaled beets from the projections and also to deposit the same in the trough, and means for limiting swivelling movement of the member about an axis substantially parallel to the pair of legs. I

4. In a beet picker, a receiving hopper supported by an axle and ground engaging by an axle and ground. engaging wheels, an endless con veyor carried by the hopper and carried thereabove, a substantially U-shaped member having a pair of legs connected by a web, means swivelly connecting the web to the hopper with the web transversely disposed with respect to the conveyor, a drum journaled between the outer ends of the legs, and disposed above the conveyor, said drum having a plurality of axially spaced rows of radially extending and circumferentially spaced pointed teeth, an inverted V-shaped trough straddling the conveyor, a plurality of rods extending from the edge of the trough adjacent the drum which rods extend between the rows of teeth and terminate in close proximity to the drum, means for limiting swivelling movement of the drum about an axis parallel to the conveyor, and means operatively connectin the axle and the drum for rotating the drum.

5. In a beet picker, a receiving hopper supported by an axle and ground engaging by an axle and ground engaging wheels, an endless conveyor carried by the hopper and carried thereabove, a substantially U-shaped member having a pair of legs connected by a web, means swivelly connecting the web to the hopper with the web transversely disposed with respect to the conveyor, a drum journaled between the outer of the legs, and disposed above the conveyor, said drum having a plurality of axially spaced rows of radially extending and circumferentially spaced pointed teeth, an inverted V-shaped trough straddling the conveyorfa plurality of rods ex tending from the edge of the trough adjacent the drum which rods extend between the rows of teeth and terminate in close proximity to the drum, means for limiting swivelling movement of the drum about an axis parallel to the conveyor, and means operatively connecting the axle and the drum for rotating the drum comprising a transverse shaft carried by the hopper, flexible drive means connecting the axle and the shaft, and means including a pair of universal joints with an extensible coupling therebetween connecting the shaft and'the drum to permit swivelling movement of the drum.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said legs are pivotally secured to said web to permit vertical swinging of said legs.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein said legs are upwardly bent at their outer ends to space said drum from said conveyor, the remaining portions of said legs serving as a beet guide means for said conveyor.

JOSEPH BRATUN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,416,585 Stables May 16, 1922 1,495,550 Cuddigan lWay 27, 1924 1,827,736 Coari Oct. 20, 1931 2,048,204 Stone July 21, 1936 2,084,447 Matejcik June 22, 1937 2,246,851 Jordan June24, 1941 2,301,088 Stahl Nov, 3, 1942 2,477,795 Gehl Aug. 2, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 60,828 Germany Feb. 16, 1892 449,278 France Feb. 22, 1913 

